My problem with Fusion

Okay, so D and I went to Fish last night, and it was OK.  From an execution standpoint, it was really nice, but compositionally, I was left cold, and after a little while I figured out why.

I have a serious issue with fusion cuisine.  Technically, fusion can mean any 2 (or more) types of cuisine fused together.  (Mexican-Indian, Canadian-Vietnamese, whatever...)  However, most times it means using Asian influence in Euro-centric cuisine.

At Fish, they definitely took some of their stylistic cues from Asia.  There were positives and negatives.  On the positive side, the dim sum (pictured) was a great idea.  It was a way of allowing us to choose our own amuse-bouches.  They didn't necessarily use Asian flavors, just the spirit of dim sum dining, and they hit the nail on the head.

The negative is what struck me though.  Think about the great sauces of European cuisine.  Sauce Bordelaise is made by roasting bones, adding vegetables, caramelizing tomatoes, reducing wine, long, slow simmering, adding mushroom trim for depth, straining, skimming, and finishing with the flourish of bone marrow richness.  Ragu a la Bolognese is made by covering pork ribs and italian sausage with canned tomatoes and herbs (and other secret touches like parmesan rind) and letting it simmer slowly for an entire day, until the meat and tomato have become one silken entity, and all that remains is to remove the bones and bay leaves.

Now think about asian cuisine.  Red curry sauce is made by opening a can of red curry paste, mixing it with coconut milk, and seasoning it with ginger and lime.  I am not disparaging red curry sauce.  I love red curry sauce.  But to make it takes 5 minutes.  Any cheap, shitty Thai restaurant in a strip mall can still make an awesome red curry.  I require more out of my sauces at the fine dining level in terms of nuance.

At Fish, we had bread served with a sweet soy glaze that could have been had at P.F.Chang's, Snapper with curry sauce that tasted like a slightly more mild version of the one at Taste of Thai in West Ashley, and Triggerfish with a broth that tasted like the onion soup you get as a starter at Bushido.  It all tasted great, but Asian food is what I get for cheap lunch on the go.  It was all so... familiar, and not in a good way, when plates are $23 and up.

I feel like Asian flavors at western fine dining establishments are like Autotune in a song, or Photoshop Effects in a work of visual art.  They give a quick boost of awesomeness, but ultimately limit the heights to which that food can soar.  An amateur can make a simple, great sauce in five minutes for some shrimp, but may not be able to pull off Sauce Gran Veneur.  Similarly, a kid with an iPhone can make a cool picture, but a great artist would prefer working with more natural media.  Ke$ha can throw together a catchy, lucrative pop song in a modern studio with all the tricks and trimmings, but all Django Rheinhart needed was a guitar and eight fingers.

That is all.  For bonus points, what is Sauce Gran Veneur?

Our First Real Modernist Discussion

>With that said....can you help me understand the charts on page 193 and 194. I think I understand the chart >about meat roasts. Do those temps include any red meat?

Yes, those times include any red meat.  Remember, the charts are not exactly about ideal meat cooking time, just about salmonella reduction.  Those times show the times necessary for a 6.5D reduction IN PATHOGENS, not necessarily about how meat is done.  Remember, beef is servable RAW.  I.E. no cooking at all, I.E. 0D salmonella reduction.  The idea is that beef that has been properly treated won't be harboring any nasties, so killing the nasties isn't a big deal.

Furthermore, the red meat chart is only talking about the meat's exterior.  (It makes that note in the chart on the previous page in the beef entry) Since beef (and such) are not known to harbor salmonella internally, the standard applies only to the outside surface, which could have been contaminated at the butcher's.  This doesn't make a lot of difference if you are going low-temp, because at 54 degrees C, after 1H 54M (beef chart, line 1) the meat will be cooked anyway.  However, imagine you have a whole ribeye you want to serve as tartare, but you don't trust the butcher where you got it to use clean cutting boards.  You want a 6.5D reduction because you think he touched your tartare with his chicken hands.  You put it in a 60 degree C bath for 11 minutes, 34 seconds, and it will still be raw, but you will have
your 6.5D reduction in SURFACE pathogens, so you can go ahead and start dicing.

(One note: a case in which this does not apply to all meats is wild game.  It can have worms, or mites, or other weird shit that this chart doesn't address.)

>The one about chicken is really giving me a hard time, but I guess it is a result of being taught 165 F is the >temp you have to cook poultry to NO EXCEPTIONS. 

Yeah, its hard to unlearn something that's been drummed into your head so hard.

>Am I reading the chart right? If I cook a chicken breast to 131 F and hold it there for 39m and 31s it is safe to >eat?! As a home cook can I achieve that accuracy with a conventional oven?


Yes, your reading it right.  But no, you can't really do that in a home oven.  The thermostats in those things are not very reliable, and the problem gets a lot worse at low temperatures.  Having said that, we tried it at Woodlands.  This is before these charts came out, and we cooked a chicken at 140 for like 12 hours in a convection oven.  We didn't serve it, but we did eat it.  It was nicely cooked, and very moist, and none of us died.

>Why are the sous vide times different? I don't remember reading anaerobic pathogens being harder to kill. 

Not sure why they are different.  I would guess that maybe poultry has lower density so the heat travels through faster, but I couldn't tell you.  It could also be something as simple as each of those charts came from a different researcher, with slightly different findings.  Science can be frustrating like that.


>How would I use the pasteurization recommendations in a home kitchen scenario? And is the fish freezing >recommendations how you make sushi grade fish and is that the only way to make sushi grade fish?     

As far as the pasteurization recommendations, I would say its sous-vide or nothing.  That really seems to be what they are gunning for.

As far as sushi-grade fish, yes, the freeze is the only way you can be guaranteed of pathogen/parasite free fish, but in the real world, you don't worry about it that much.  I eat and serve raw fish (at home) all the time and don't worry about that.  In life there is risk, and not everything has to be pasteurized.  You just don't serve it to pregnant women or babies (2 demographics that I avoid as a matter of course anyway.)

Great to hear from you, little sister.  I am through chapter 2 of Fisherman's Ocean.  He is still piling on the basics, nothing practical yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Temperature and Time = 6.5D Salmonella Reduction

Ok so 6.5D reduction kills 99.99997% of all pathogens present. The FDA requires this for most raw food products and other nongovernmental organizations find this to be too conservative and settle for a 5D reduction.

With that said....can you help me understand the charts on page 193 and 194. I think I understand the chart about meat roasts. Do those temps include any red meat?

The one about chicken is really giving me a hard time, but I guess it is a result of being taught 165 F is the temp you have to cook poultry to NO EXCEPTIONS. Am I reading the chart right? If I cook a chicken breast to 131 F and hold it there for 39m and 31s it is safe to eat?! As a home cook can I achieve that accuracy with a conventional oven?

Why are the sous vide times different? I don't remember reading anaerobic pathogens being harder to kill.

How would I use the pasteurization recommendations in a home kitchen scenario? And is the fish freezing recommendations how you make sushi grade fish and is that the only way to make sushi grade fish?    

Ok I am going to stop there. I am past that section of reading and on to food fads and how the FDA and other food distributor make up things like (more fiber can reduce colon cancer) without any real scientific evidence because it costs too much. But they can make money off of the hypothesis because people don't usually question it.....scary to say the very least.

Kielbasa and Cabbage

I am soo glad you enjoyed the sausage and hot sauce! I know you guys had a blast and I am soo jealous about the oysters! I haven't had oysters in a long time and seriously craving some! If you have any suggestions about a good place or places in NOLA I am ALL EARS!

New Years morning I cooked eggs in a hole for Rachel. It was the funniest thing while she was watching me cook. You would have thought I was performing magic tricks or something she was so amazed haha.

 She loved them! I also made some grits out of Anson Mills grits which I must say were the best I have ever had!

I recently went and visited an old college friend of mine and was lucky enough to score some fresh local red and green cabbage! My mom use to make me a dish when I was younger called Kielbasa and Cabbage. I know Kielbasa is polish for "sausage" and from what I read it is traditionally served with onions, red potatoes, and cabbage. So I cooked it the way mom use to for me in one pot. It came out just the way I remember it! Its not the prettiest dish but on a cold rainy day it was perfect! One thing I have to say that I LOVE about food is the ability to create something that makes you feel like a child again from your own hands but taught to you by the one who created that memory for you in the first place.

Reading Modernest diligently.... I promise. I am on Viruses and trying to keep up and retain something. : )

Christmas Gifts and a Happy New Year

To start, I just wanted to report that I have officially begun reading the Fisherman's Ocean.  I have so far gotten through only the preface and 10 pages of the first chapter, and its been a long day, so I have to relax now, but I will definitely be devouring this one.  I have no fishing mentor, I am kinda self-taught, so I need all the help I can get.  Thanks to li'l Swamp Fox for the thoughtful gift.

Speaking of Christmas gifts from li'l Swamp Fox, I would like to report that on New Year's D and I had Adam and Bobby (and later my parents) over for champagne and oysters.  We ate an entire bushel of Canada Cups in about 4 hours.  However, as anyone knows, oysters are delicious but not all that filling, so we took a pack of pork andouille and a pack of deer sausage (both gifts from my Lake Charles li'l sister) and boiled them up with some potatoes, pearl onions, bay leaves, and a downright unhealthy amount of Slap Ya Mama seafood boil.  Just for good measure, we added in the juice of all the oysters we shucked, which was a lot.  Thank you much for your generosity, it was delicious.

Also thanks to whoever cleaned up after dinner, because I don't, specifically speaking, remember going to bed.  But I must have, cause that's where I woke up.

January, its study time!

Sea-Beans

Sea-Beans
> AKA Drift Beans
>These beans do not originate from the seas just merely use it or any other water ways as a form of transport.
>They are said to grow from trees and vines in tropical areas. They fall into rivers and streams and find their way to the ocean.
>Considered a fruit because it contains seeds but I guess because of their appearance were initially thought to be a bean.
>Are incredibly buoyant because they contain seeds with air pockets. It has been tested, by a man named John Dennis, some of theses beans can float for 32 years.
>They can be found on coastal shores of the Atlantic especially during and after hurricane season because of the exceptionally high tides.
> They are usually used for medicinal purposes and available commercially as a nutritional supplement.
> I have never worked with them before.

Holy Fuckfarts!

It is 2 pm, Dec. 19, 2012, and I have finished reading Modernist Cuisine.  Cover to cover.  I am a badass.  Where yat Boo?